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The Naira appreciated to N380 to a Dollar yesterday as the nation’s external reserves dropped to $30.5 billion. The naira appreciated by N1.00 from N381 per dollar in the parallel market as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued to inject fresh capital to boost liquidity.

Consequently, the external reserve has risen by $4.7 billion since the beginning of the year, though has continued to drop recently over CBN actions in the foreign exchange market. The external reserves this week has dropped by $145.7 million or 0.48 per cent from $30.66 billion it opened this week to $30.5 billion on Thursday.

Despite recent increased global oil prices, the external reserves continued to drop over CBN’s introduction of new windows. The price of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket of 13 crudes stood at $51.96 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $51.34 the previous day.

OPEC on Thursday renewed an agreement to withhold some crude-oil supplies into March 2018, doubling down on its bet that it can raise prices despite soaring output from American shale producers. Brent crude dipped before regaining some ground to $53.77 a barrel following reports of the extension until March 2018.

Non-OPEC members are also meeting to decide whether they will agree to more production cuts. Kuwaiti oil minister Essam al-Marzouq has reportedly confirmed OPEC’S agreement to extend the output curbs. OPEC countries and 11 other oil-producing nations, including Russia, first agreed to reduce production last December in an effort to boost flagging prices. The reduction was almost 1.8 million barrels per day – equivalent to about two per cent of global oil production.

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